NCJ Number
140787
Journal
Canadian Police College Journal Volume: 16 Issue: 4 Dated: (1992) Pages: 282-308
Date Published
1992
Length
27 pages
Annotation
A pilot project was conducted in a medium-sized community in Ontario, Canada to study both community attitudes toward the police and police attitudes toward the community in an effort to determine indicators which might reflect the community or law enforcement orientation of the police service.
Abstract
Interviews with members of the police force and the community revealed five standard universes within which police/community relations are defined: the legal universe, the police operations universe, the police force universe, the constable/community universe, and the police management/community universe. For each universe, the key players differ as do their assumptions of the place or the role of police in society. Additionally, each is guided by different principles, holds different concepts, and uses a different language for defining police/community relations. Following an analysis of these five universes, attention turns to public and police perceptions of the major challenges facing the police, public perceptions of police competency, indicators of police/community integration, and community assessment of informal police participation in the community, police perception of that involvement, and police and community understandings of the political limits of that role. 12 tables